Star Tribune
Former Plymouth Mayor Al Hilde, Jr. dies at 90
With nearly 80,000 residents and one of the largest business parks in the state, Plymouth is now the seventh largest city in Minnesota.
As mayor from 1968 to 1977, Al Hilde Jr., helped create the blueprint the west metro suburb followed as it rapidly transitioned from largely rural farmland into an prospering suburban community.
“He saw the need for a comprehensive plan,” said Jim Willis, who has been on the Plymouth City Council since the 1970s. From extending sewer and water lines to guiding land use, “everything was well planned and thought out. He personified the spirit of somebody who wanted to contribute to his community and make it a better place to live and raise a family.”
Hilde died July 28 at his home in Jackson, Wyo., where he moved in the mid-1980s to enjoy the mountains and his passions for flying and hunting. He was 90.
Hilde graduated from Logan High School in LaCrosse, Wis., where his name was added to the school’s Wall of Fame in 1988. He earned a degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota and spent two years in the U.S. Army stationed in Texas.
He started training to become a dental hygienist, but soon realized “that wasn’t going to be what he was doing,” said his son, Todd, of Austin, Texas. Instead, Hilde turned his interest to portable sanitation after learning about small toilets the Army was using in Long Beach, Calif. because it was too expensive to keep shuttling workers building ships back to the dock to use the bathroom.
With the idea of bringing dignity to outdoor sanitation, Hilde founded Satellite Industries in 1958 and built and marketed his first wooden portable toilets to Minneapolis contractors.
“Nobody knew what they were,” his son recalled. “We had to sell them on the value, and the value was productivity, not having your hourly workers jump in the car and go down to the gas station to go potty. And saving human dignity by not forcing people to go out in the woods.”
Hilde grew the Plymouth-based firm into one of the largest in the sanitation rental industry, with more than 15 models of portable restrooms and other products used in 130 countries. He was honored with the Minnesota Governor’s Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Community and Economic Development” in 1970.
Hilde was also a generous man, his son said. Music was a big part of his life, and yearly he brought the Minnesota Orchestra to Plymouth for an outdoor concert. When crowds got too big for the vacant lot where the orchestra played, Hilde donated $1 million for the Hilde Performance Center, an outdoor bandshell built adjacent to City Hall.
“It came from his desire to take high-quality music and bring it to the people,” Todd Hilde said. The performance art center and the Music in Plymouth series “is one of his legacies.”
Guided by his Christian faith and a strong work ethic, Hilde believed in work before play. He never shied away from tough tasks and made sure the job got done, those who knew him said.
“He had enormous integrity; he had it in spades,” Willis said. “He had a great deal of trust and relationships with the City Council, the town staff and the public he served.”
Besides his son, Todd, Al Hilde is survived by his wife of 70 years, Jayne, of Jackson, Wyo., sons Tim, of Vergas, Minn. and Bret of LaBelle, Fla., sisters Ann Ebbers, of Plymouth and Carol Stewart, of Tacoma Park, MD., and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Services have been held.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will auction off state lands in popular northern counties next month.
The public land — in Aitkin, Cook, Itasca, and St. Louis counties — will go up for sale during the Department of Natural Resource’s annual online public land sale from Nov. 7 to 21.
“These rural and lakeshore properties may appeal to adjacent landowners or offer recreational opportunities such as space for a small cabin or camping,” the DNR said in a statement.
Properties will be available for bidding Nov. 7 through Nov. 21.
This all can trim for print: The properties include:
40 acres in Aitkin County, with a minimum bid of $85,000
44 acres in Cook County, minimum bid $138,000
1.9 acres in Itasca County, minimum bid $114,000
Minneapolis city officials say razor wire, concrete barriers and fencing will be removed from around the former Third Precinct police station – which was set ablaze by protesters after George Floyd’s police killing – in the next three weeks. The burned-out vestibule will be removed within three months with construction fencing to be erected closer to the building.
This week, Minneapolis City Council members have expressed frustration that four years after the protests culminated in a fire at the police station, the charred building still stands and has become a “prop” some conservatives use to rail against city leadership. Most recently, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance made a stop outside the building and criticized Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the 2020 riots.
On Thursday, the council voted 8-3 to approve a resolution calling for “immediate cleanup, remediation, and beautification of the 3000 Minnehaha site including but not limited to the removal of fencing, jersey barriers, barbed wire, and all other exterior blight.”
Council Member Robin Wonsley said the city needs to acknowledge that many police officers stationed in the Third Precinct “waged racist and violent actions” against residents for decades.
Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said the council wants the building cleaned up and beautified “immediately.”
“We cannot allow for this corner to be a backdrop for those who wish to manipulate the trauma of our city for political gain,” Chowdhury said.
Council Member Katie Cashman said the council shouldn’t be divided by “right-wing figures posing in front of the Third Precinct and pandering to conservative interests.”
“It’s really important for us to stay united in our goal, to achieve rehabilitation of this site in a way that advances racial healing and acknowledgement of the past trauma in this community, and to not let those figures divide us here,” she said.
It’s MEA weekend — the four-day stretch in mid-October when educators traditionally flock to St. Paul RiverCentre for a conference organized by the statewide teachers union as students and their families take an extended break.
Some orchards offer visitors the opportunity to pick their own fruit, while others operate sprawling general stores that sell a variety of apple-themed goodies.
Tiger cub twins Amaliya (female), left, and Andrei (male), right, who were born in May, hang out with their mother, Amur tiger Sundari, after making their debut in their new public habitat at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Minn. on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. ] LEILA NAVIDI • leila.navidi@startribune.com (Leila Navidi)
October is usually a happenin’ month at the Minnesota Zoo. The annual Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is chock-full of meticulously decorated gourds, and this year’s event runs until Nov. 2. Tickets start at $18 for adults and $14 for children (kids younger than 2 get in free but must still register for tickets). The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular begins at 6 p.m.
But there’s another new attraction at the zoo these days: the pair of Amur tiger cubs born to 7-year-old mom Bernadette just a couple of months ago. This week, zoo officials named the young felines Marisa and Maks. The zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.
Patrons enjoy drinks and dinner on the patio Thursday evening, July 18, 2024 at Lola’s Lakehouse in Waconia. Lola’s Lakehouse in Waconia features a large back deck/patio area with views of Lake Waconia. (Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
With so many people out of town, there’s no better time to visit some of the Twin Cities’ most popular eateries.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings